The Ashes (Australia tour of England)

[Aislabie]

Who would make a better captain than Root? I have a sense that his batting is suffering since becoming captain. Is there any data to back that up or prove that bollox?

Jos Buttler has been a fantastic captain ever since his junior days.

One of my favourite stories is from when he was at King's in Taunton. King's is one of those schools that is good enough at cricket to play against the MCC, but because the MCC are a bunch of entitled elitists, there are certain expectations when you play the MCC. Those expectations include that the MCC will choose whether or not they bat first and so on, and when an umpire gave five penalty runs because an MCC batsman kept running down the middle of the track, the reaction was that "You can't do that against the MCC!"

Anyway so that's the deference with which the MCC is usually treated. Buttler, as captain of a King's side that also included Alex Barrow and Charlie Morris, chose to bat first, and racked up an enormous score (I think he scored about 180-odd very quickly). Rather than declaring while it would still be competitive, they ground the MCC down, then Moz and the rest of the bowling ran through a side that had been in the field all day.

This insubordination angered the match managers at the MCC and they decided to send a full-strength side there with a bunch of pros and ex-pros... except Buttler, Barrow and Morris had all finished school, so they just looked stupid again by sending a bunch of pros to beat up on a group of school kids.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

I was against Siddle being picked at first but he bowled beautifully but wasn't successful in the game. His batting along with Smudge also helped us post a decent score. He played decent strokes in his 44 and Pattinson slogged in the second innings in his 40 odd and he also bowled beautifully as well but Hazlewood must come in on a grassy pitch but I don't know for who.

Peter Siddle is exactly the type of bowler you need in England. I'm all for pace and fury, but the accuracy is more important in a place like England. In Australia, I am not picking Siddle. You need some pace to get through over there and bowlers with height tend to generate more opportunities because of the bounce they get from a length. I know Australia won the first test, but there is no way that I am getting convinced that Hazlewood's omission was the right move. He, like Siddle can get a little wobble and nibble, is more accurate and slightly quicker too. I think if Aus are smart, they'll open with Siddle and Hazlewood with Cummins first change.

 

[Jalen]

Peter Siddle is exactly the type of bowler you need in England. I'm all for pace and fury, but the accuracy is more important in a place like England. In Australia, I am not picking Siddle. You need some pace to get through over there and bowlers with height tend to generate more opportunities because of the bounce they get from a length. I know Australia won the first test, but there is no way that I am getting convinced that Hazlewood's omission was the right move. He, like Siddle can get a little wobble and nibble, is more accurate and slightly quicker too. I think if Aus are smart, they'll open with Siddle and Hazlewood with Cummins first change.

With all the news and hype it looks like Hazlewood will be in the XI.

 

[Willoughby63]

Great for England today, we now have just 4 days to survive.

 

[Yorkshireman]

JASON ROY USELESS TWATT!!!! FFS.

 

[Dutch]

What is he doing?????
Has he learnt nothing?????[DOUBLEPOST=1565863893][/DOUBLEPOST]End of test career....the search goes on.....he needs to score big second innings or it is surely curtains.....the selection policy is all over the place....what is Denly doing there?????

 

[Jalen]

What is he doing?????
Has he learnt nothing?????

Not a test match batsman, like maxwell. Wants to play at everything

Unpopular opinion: Hazlewood is a much better test match bowler than Starc

 

[Aislabie]

What is he doing?????
Has he learnt nothing?????

It's particularly baffling when Dom Sibley is the obvious correct answer. Or Joe Root averages 40 as an opener so I guess he could do it if he were prepared to put the team first

 

[Dutch]

First ball waft, second ball beaten, (right I have had my warning.,...oooh got away with that, tuck it in lad tuck it in....)......... third ball inevitable out chasing the ball outside off....feck me....[DOUBLEPOST=1565864090][/DOUBLEPOST]

It's particularly baffling when Dom Sibley is the obvious correct answer. Or Joe Root averages 40 as an opener so I guess he could do it if he were prepared to put the team first

And again Root in far too early......where is the planning, the foresight, the process? We have known for ages that the Aussies were coming: there has been no red ball cricket in England either since before the Ashes started......

 

[Dutch]

Aussies know how to bowl though....blimey! Burns doing what he needs to do though...I do like the look of him as an opener...early days sure but......

 

[Gamer Pradosh]

Yeah very strange way of stance but knows his off stump well.. Leaving well so far , even edging ones he is able to make them fall short of slips..

For Roy its the mindset which is not right, he is just as to play like a test player or be the leave and smack the ones in his range guy.. IMO not a test material especially because of his mindset.. He just doesnt back himself enough.. Though they could try him out as a middle order guy who plays at a good strike rate like Gilly did.. With new ball on most occasions he would be a sitting duck..

Edit: Just like I thought Root wasnt going to survive long to Hazelwood with the way he was bringing the ball in.. And there it is a plumb LBW..

 

[Dutch]

Thats the Ashes boys.....pretty much scripted as the Aussies would have written it.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

I am not one bit surprised at Roy failing. Classic case of white ball cricket dictating red ball selection. The sub continent is famous for this and UK and Australia have generally been smarter than us in these regards.

Check my posts earlier here. I have been asking where Haseeb Hamid is for ages? I was never in for Roy playing in the first place. I assure you that once he goes to the sub continent as well, he will be eaten alive by our spinners. He’s very much England’s Rohit Sharma as far as I’m concerned.

Hazlewood has done the business as expected. And the same white ball form has led to Archer playing ahead of Curran. It’s simply bananas. Sam Curran was MOS in a series against a top 3 side and a star. Time for change in selection panels over in England, regardless of the result.

 

[Aislabie]

Check my posts earlier here. I have been asking where Haseeb Hamid is for ages? I was never in for Roy playing in the first place. I assure you that once he goes to the sub continent as well, he will be eaten alive by our spinners. He’s very much England’s Rohit Sharma as far as I’m concerned.

Haseeb is in Lancashire seconds and averages about 15 in first-class cricket since he came back from the Test side. He's not the answer, and is currently fighting for his first-class career.

And that is exceptionally harsh on Rohit Sharma, who averages nearly 40 in Tests with three tons. England (and many other teams) would sell their own mothers for a batsman with returns like that.

 

[Bevab]

Hazlewood has done the business as expected. And the same white ball form has led to Archer playing ahead of Curran. It’s simply bananas. Sam Curran was MOS in a series against a top 3 side and a star. Time for change in selection panels over in England, regardless of the result.

Calling Archer a white ball specialist is a bit harsh, he is a much better bowler in county cricket than Curran and offers something that none of the other English bowlers barring Wood on a good day can offer. While Curran can feel hard done by, it is understandable that Archer played in the end especially when you remember that Archer is a handy all-rounder in first class cricket himself.

Also, Archer had one of the highest bowling workloads a season or two ago, right up there with spinners themselves. Any worries over him breaking down or losing steam after his first spell should be dissuaded by that. If Bumrah can play his first test having not played a single minute of first class cricket over a year prior to his debut, Archer certainly deserves to play having starred consistently for a number of seasons.